Air-conditioned shoe



July 4, 1939- A. J. LE CLAIR 2,164,877

AIR-CONDITIONED SHOE Filed Aug. l1, 1938 1N ENTOR. BY i? t .I l C V f xTTORNEY.

Patented July 4, 1,939

' UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE i AIR-CONDITIONED SHOE Archile J. Le Clair, Plaistow, N. H. Application August 11, 1938, Serial No. 224,238

4 Claims.

My present invention relates to shoes, and more particularly to air-conditioned shoes.

It is a well known fact that shoes offer a difficult problem when it is desired to properly venti..

late same.

Many devices and combination of devices have been offered the public in the past to overcome the yentilating shortcomings of ordinary shoes.

In my present invention, I have endeavored '10 to get to the bottom of the dimculty by the provision of means by which air may be admitted to the inner' portions of the shoe directly from the outside atmosphere, therefore,

The principal object of my invention is an airconditioned shoe;

Another object is anl air-conditioned shoe which has a direct vent to the outside atmospheric air;

Still anotherobiect is an air-conditioned shoe which is provided with a direct outside atmospheric connection through the heel portion;

Still another object is an improved air-conditioned shoe which is provided with an im proved air-conditioned shank, And other objects and novel features comprising the construction and operation of my invention will be apparent as the description of the.

same progresses.

In the drawing illustrating the preferred embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 1 is a partial side elevation and crosssection of a shoe, the cross-section being taken longitudinally through the sole portion of the shoe;

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan of the said shoe;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the insole;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross-section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 4, particularly showing the `uted upper surface of the insole;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary toe portion of a modiiled insole showing the flutings placed transversely of the insole:

Fig. 6 is a crosssection indicated at 6-6 on Fig. 5, particularly showing the flutingson the upper surface-of said modified insole, and

Fig. rl is an expanded plan view, greatly reduced in scale, showing the fillermember in the toe portion of the shoe and the corrugated shank both of which are shown in elevation, in Fig. 1.

5 Referring more in detail to the drawing, lo 1ndicates the upper portion of a sh which comprises the various parts, as vamp, t piece etc. II indicates the outer sole. I2 indicates the insole, in general, being attached to the upper portions and the outer sole in-the conventional manner, as in a welt shoe. p

My present invention is concerned with the insole, the outer sole and the heel of said shoe producing a new combination therebetween. Broad- 5 ly, my invention is designed to produce air-conditioning effect in a shoe by the means hereinafter described which takes the air from the outside of the shoe and especially through the heel and outer sole portions. 10

I am aware that there have been many attempts in the pastto produce air-conditioned shoes by one means or another many of which have been confined to the insole and while such improvements have added much to the comfort o f the shoe wearer still, at the same time, there has been lacking the cooling effect desired from air taken directly from the outside atmosphere. 'I'his is probably due to the fact that where air is not taken directlyfrom the outside but passes down from the upper portions of the foot there necessarily is a more-or-less pre-heating effect where the air comes in contact with the foot of the wearer.

In Fig. 1, it will be noted that I have provided a plurality of openings extending all the way through the outer sole, as indicated at I3. These openings may be as large or as numerous as desired and preferably positioned in the instep portionlof the outer sole in front of the heel member 4.

The insole member I2 is similar to the conventional insole except that I have provided a plurality of perforations or openings I5 over the instep portion and have extended such vent openings around the outer portion of the toe and down the center. In addition to the openings I5, I have also shown, in the drawings, a plurality of grooves I6 which produce an upper surface on the insole of a fluted character. 'Ihe iiutings I6 and I6a may be positioned in a horizontal or transverse direction with respect to said insole, as desired. On the other hand, I also reserve the right to use a perfectly plain surfaced insole without any flutings whatever.

In combination with my invention I have designed a special shank member I8.which is corrugated transversely of the shank and is preferably made from metal. In addition to the func- \tion of a shank stiffening member the corrugated kformation of this shank member makes it possible for the air to circulate from the outside up through the openings I3 in the outer sole -II around lthe corrugations and up through the o s I5 in the insole directly to the'under 55 ISO4 Cil

side of the wearers foot. member such as shown at I1 is used, the openings I5 may extend all the way around the outer portion of the insole as well as down the center. as shown in Fig. 3. The fiutlngs I6 also help to distribute the air throughout the length of the insole.

In the heel Il, I have provided a large opening 20 under the central portion and extending up through the entire heel to the under side of the insole. in the insole I have provided a plurality of air, openings 2| for'the purpose of Ventilating the heel portion of the shoe.

In operation, air passes through the openings I3 in the outer sole up around the corrugated shank member I8 and out through the openings I5 in the insole to the bottom oi' the foot. In a similar manner air passes through the opening 20 in the heel and out through lthe openings 2l in the insole to the bottom of the heel.

It will thus be seen that I have designed a very simple and eil'ective air-conditioned shoe and it is to be understood that I may vary the shape and proportions within large limits without departing from the spirit oi.' the invention.

Having thus described by invention, what I claim as new is:

1. An improved air-conditioned shoe comprising in combination, an upper, an insole, an outer sole, a heel member, a transversely corrugated shank stiffener member located between said insole and said outer sole, a vent located in said outer sole below said shank member, a vent located in said insole above said shank member.

Over this opening 2'. in the heel and If a corrugated illler4 2. An improved ain-conditioned shoe comprising in combination, an upper, an insole, an outer sole and heel member, a transversely corrugated shank stiener member located between said insole and said outer sole, a vent located in said outer sole between said shank member, a vent located in saidiinsole above said shank member, iiutings located in the upper surface of said insole.

3. An improved air-conditioned shoe comprising in combination, an upper, an insole, an outer sole and heel member, a transversely corrugated shank stiifener member located between said insole and said outer sole, a vent located in said outer sole adjacent said shank member, a vent located in said insole adjacent said shank member, a vent located through said heel member, a vent located in said insole over said heel vent, a corrugated filler member located between the front toe portion of said shoe and the forward end of said shank member separating said insole from said outer sole, utings located in the upper surface of said insole, vents located in the forward portion of said insole communieating with said utings.

4. An improved air-conditioned shoe comprising in combination, an upper, an insole, an outer sole and heel member, a transversely corrugated shank stiilener, a transversely corrugated ller member connecting with said shank member, vents located below said shank member in said outer sole, vents located above said shank member in said insole, substantially as shown and described.

ARCHILE J. LE CLAIR. 

